1) The word shrine is not quite accurate. The place in Arabic is simply mazar, a visitation destination.
2) I have explained this to Western reporters before: anyone who introduces himself to you as a Hizbullah fighter or commander is clearly not a Hizbullah anything. As in: "“I’m from Hezbollah,” he said."
3) Anne Barnard, typically protective of the propaganda interests of the Free Syrian Armies and other rebels, reversed the chronology here: "Religious fervor helped galvanize tens of thousands of Shiite fighters to flock from Iraq, Lebanon and across Syria, in theory to defend the shrine, in practice to fight alongside Syrian forces on many fronts. And it drove some Sunni extremists in the insurgency, who regard Shiites as infidels, to declare the shrine a target." In fact, Ms. Barnard, Syrian rebels attacked the site and posted videos about wanting to destroy the site, before those Shi`ites flocked into Syria to defend the site, although I believe that Hizbullah's role in defense of the site undermined their claim that their intervention in Syria is purely political.
4) Here, Ms. Barnard is clearly categorically not telling the truth: "Hezbollah has long said that protecting the shrine was a major rationale for sending fighters to Syria". Hizbullah never ever said that defending the shrine was a "major rationale" for sending fighters to Syria. In fact, it said the opposite over and over again. It said that intervention to protect the site was to prevent fitnah given the intention of the sectarian rebels to destroy the shrine.
5) Notice here ("A Syrian who coordinates between government forces and Hezbollah around the shrine said that Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards are not simply advising Damascus, but fighting near the northern city of Aleppo. Hezbollah and Iran, he said, have trained more than 100,000 Syrians, in Syria, Lebanon and Tehran, to form the National Defense Forces militias. On Tuesday, Iran delivered 30,000 tons of food supplies to Syria, The Associated Press reported.")that Syrian military and Hizbullah commanders and fighters choose--YET AGAIN--to share their secrets not with media that are sympathetic with them but with media that are hostile to them, just as Hizbullah commanders always share damaging secrets with Nicholas Blanford. In fact, this has become a joke as yellow Kuwaiti tabloids and media of Saudi princes do the same: they attribute the most damaging information about Hizbullah to Hizbullah sources who spoke exclusively with those media. B) what does the shipment of Iranian food aid have to do with the question of military intervention by Iran?
6) If this guy is saying that this is not a secret, why is he afraid to be identified by name? Dont you get the impression that those sources are Syrian rebels in the FSA and are posing as Hizb and regime fighters to the nonsuspecting or suspecting Ms. Barnard: "“The game is changed,” the coordinator said, asking not to be identified for his safety. He confirmed much of what Western officials assert about the government’s foreign support, calling it a trump card that Damascus saved for the right moment. “It is no longer a secret,” he added. “It is on the table.”"
7) Look at what Ms. Barnard considers Shi`ite iconography: "Yet now, some government fighters embrace Shiite iconography. Shoulder patches show Mr. Assad in Hezbollah’s green and yellow colors, sometimes alongside Mr. Nasrallah."
8) Here, Ms. Barnard provides the best definition of the Mahdi in Shi`ite twelver Islam that I have read. It is befitting the columns of Thomas Friedman: "the Mahdi, a saviorlike figure." Is Jesus is "saviorlike figure too?
9) Look how she does not mention that the two Shi`ite towns have been under siege and under bombardment by the rebels: "Many here came from the Shiite villages of Nubol and Zahra, fleeing insurgent attack."
2) I have explained this to Western reporters before: anyone who introduces himself to you as a Hizbullah fighter or commander is clearly not a Hizbullah anything. As in: "“I’m from Hezbollah,” he said."
3) Anne Barnard, typically protective of the propaganda interests of the Free Syrian Armies and other rebels, reversed the chronology here: "Religious fervor helped galvanize tens of thousands of Shiite fighters to flock from Iraq, Lebanon and across Syria, in theory to defend the shrine, in practice to fight alongside Syrian forces on many fronts. And it drove some Sunni extremists in the insurgency, who regard Shiites as infidels, to declare the shrine a target." In fact, Ms. Barnard, Syrian rebels attacked the site and posted videos about wanting to destroy the site, before those Shi`ites flocked into Syria to defend the site, although I believe that Hizbullah's role in defense of the site undermined their claim that their intervention in Syria is purely political.
4) Here, Ms. Barnard is clearly categorically not telling the truth: "Hezbollah has long said that protecting the shrine was a major rationale for sending fighters to Syria". Hizbullah never ever said that defending the shrine was a "major rationale" for sending fighters to Syria. In fact, it said the opposite over and over again. It said that intervention to protect the site was to prevent fitnah given the intention of the sectarian rebels to destroy the shrine.
5) Notice here ("A Syrian who coordinates between government forces and Hezbollah around the shrine said that Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards are not simply advising Damascus, but fighting near the northern city of Aleppo. Hezbollah and Iran, he said, have trained more than 100,000 Syrians, in Syria, Lebanon and Tehran, to form the National Defense Forces militias. On Tuesday, Iran delivered 30,000 tons of food supplies to Syria, The Associated Press reported.")that Syrian military and Hizbullah commanders and fighters choose--YET AGAIN--to share their secrets not with media that are sympathetic with them but with media that are hostile to them, just as Hizbullah commanders always share damaging secrets with Nicholas Blanford. In fact, this has become a joke as yellow Kuwaiti tabloids and media of Saudi princes do the same: they attribute the most damaging information about Hizbullah to Hizbullah sources who spoke exclusively with those media. B) what does the shipment of Iranian food aid have to do with the question of military intervention by Iran?
6) If this guy is saying that this is not a secret, why is he afraid to be identified by name? Dont you get the impression that those sources are Syrian rebels in the FSA and are posing as Hizb and regime fighters to the nonsuspecting or suspecting Ms. Barnard: "“The game is changed,” the coordinator said, asking not to be identified for his safety. He confirmed much of what Western officials assert about the government’s foreign support, calling it a trump card that Damascus saved for the right moment. “It is no longer a secret,” he added. “It is on the table.”"
7) Look at what Ms. Barnard considers Shi`ite iconography: "Yet now, some government fighters embrace Shiite iconography. Shoulder patches show Mr. Assad in Hezbollah’s green and yellow colors, sometimes alongside Mr. Nasrallah."
8) Here, Ms. Barnard provides the best definition of the Mahdi in Shi`ite twelver Islam that I have read. It is befitting the columns of Thomas Friedman: "the Mahdi, a saviorlike figure." Is Jesus is "saviorlike figure too?
9) Look how she does not mention that the two Shi`ite towns have been under siege and under bombardment by the rebels: "Many here came from the Shiite villages of Nubol and Zahra, fleeing insurgent attack."
